I know a lot of people are making snarky comments about this, but Ventura did clearly say during Soxfest several times that he was considering using Morel as a backup shortstop. I heard it with my own ears, so it was definitely discussed over the winter, and seemingly Ventura is somewhat serious. In fact, I think Hahn talked about it in one of the seminars as well, talking about how valuable Morel would be as a backup second baseman or shortstop. Unfortunately either nobody remembers that or the media just simply did not pick up on the comment in January. It was discussed though.

I wasn't aware of the Soxfest comments until your post. Of course, it enchances Morel's chances to stay in the majors if he can back up at second and short. If you are a position player who isn't starting, you are hurting your team's bench if you only have one position. That is one of the reasons the Giants had to trade Gillaspie.

Still, Hahn took a backup shortstop in the Rule 5 draft, and Morel didn't play any position but third last year in Charlotte. Having a third baseman who can back up other positions including shortstop and building a 25-man roster with that player as your backup shortstop are two different things.

If Morel were to be the second shortstop on the team, I wouldn't expect him to make the 25-man roster coming out of this spirng training.